PDF generated: 26 Aug 2021, 16:39 constituteproject.org Morocco's Constitution of 2011 English Translation © 2012 by William S. Hein & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Translated by Jefri J. Ruchti Prepared for distribution on constituteproject.org with content generously provided by Hein Online. This document has been recompiled and reformatted using texts collected in Hein Online’s World Constitution’s Illustrated. constituteproject.org PDF generated: 26 Aug 2021, 16:39 Table of contents Preamble . 3 Title One: General Provisions . 4 Title II: Fundamental Freedoms and Rights . 8 Title III: Of the Royalty . 13 Title IV: Of the Legislative Power . 17 Title V: Of the Executive Power . 25 Title VI: Of the Relations between the Powers . 27 Title VII: Of the Judicial Power . 29 Title VIII: Of the Constitutional Court . 33 Title IX: Of the Regions and of the Other Territorial Collectivities . 34 Title X: Of the Court of Accounts . 37 Title XI: Of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council . 38 Title XII: Of Good Governance . 38 Title XIII: Of the Revision of the Constitution . 42 Title XIV: Transitory and Final Provisions . 43 Morocco 2011 Page 2 constituteproject.org PDF generated: 26 Aug 2021, 16:39 • Motives for writing constitution • Preamble Preamble • Human dignity • Reference to fraternity/solidarity With fidelity to its irreversible choice to construct a democratic State of Law, the Kingdom of Morocco resolutely pursues the process of consolidation and of reinforcement of the institutions of a modern State, having as its bases the principles of participation, of pluralism and of good governance. It develops a society of solidarity where all enjoy security, liberty, equality of opportunities, of respect for their dignity and for social justice, within the framework of the principle of correlation between the rights and the duties of the citizenry. • Integration of ethnic communities A sovereign Muslim State, attached to its national unity and to its territorial integrity, the Kingdom of Morocco intends to preserve, in its plentitude and its diversity, its one and indivisible national identity. Its unity, is forged by the convergence of its Arab-Islamist, Berber [amazighe] and Saharan-Hassanic [saharo-hassanie] components, nourished and enriched by its African, Andalusian, Hebraic and Mediterranean influences [affluents]. The preeminence accorded to the Muslim religion in the national reference is consistent with [va de pair] the attachment of the Moroccan people to the values of openness, of moderation, of tolerance and of dialog for mutual understanding between all the cultures and the civilizations of the world. • International law • International organizations Considering the imperative to reinforce the role which belongs to it on the international scene, the Kingdom of Morocco, active member within the international organizations, is committed to subscribe to the principles, rights and obligations enounced in their respective charters and conventions; it affirms its attachment to the Rights of Man such as they are universally recognized, as well as its will to continue to work to preserve peace and security in the world. • Integration of ethnic communities • Regional group(s) Founded on these values and these immutable principles, and strong in its firm will to • Reference to fraternity/solidarity reaffirm the bonds of fraternity, or cooperation, or solidarity and of constructive partnership with all other States, and to work for common progress, the Kingdom of Morocco, [a] united State, totally sovereign, belonging the Grand Maghreb, reaffirms that which follows and commits itself: • To work for the construction of the Union of the Maghreb, as [a] strategic option; • To deepen the bonds of togetherness with the Arab and Islamist Ummah [Oumma], and to reinforce the bonds of fraternity and of solidarity with its brother peoples; • To consolidate relations of cooperation and of solidarity with the peoples and the countries of Africa, notably the sub-Saharan countries and the [countries] of the Sahel; • To intensify relations of cooperation, of rapprochement and of partnership with neighboring Euro-Mediterranean countries; • Reference to science • To enlarge and to diversify its relations of amity and of its rapport with human, economic, scientific, technical and cultural exchange with the countries of the world; • To reinforce South-South cooperation [cooperation Sud-Sud]; • International law • International human rights treaties • To protect and to promote the mechanisms [dispositifs] of the Rights of Man and of international humanitarian law and to contribute to their development within their indivisibility and their universality; • General guarantee of equality • Equality regardless of gender • To ban and combat all discrimination whenever it encounters it, for reason • Equality regardless of skin color of sex, or color, of beliefs, of culture, of social or regional origin, of language, • Equality regardless of creed or belief • Equality regardless of origin of handicap or whatever personal circumstance that may be; • Equality regardless of language • Equality for persons with disabilities Morocco 2011 Page 3 constituteproject.org PDF generated: 26 Aug 2021, 16:39 • To comply with [accorder] the international conventions duly ratified by it, • International law within the framework of the provisions of the Constitution and of the laws • Legal status of treaties of the Kingdom, within respect for its immutable national identity, and on the publication of these conventions, [their] primacy over the internal law of the country, and to harmonize in consequence the pertinent provisions of national legislation. This Preamble is made [an] integral part of this Constitution. Title One: General Provisions Article One • Type of government envisioned Morocco is a constitutional, democratic, parliamentary and social Monarchy. The constitutional regime of the Kingdom is founded on the separation, the balance and the collaboration of the powers, as well as on participative democracy of [the] citizen, and the principles of good governance and of the correlation between the responsibility for and the rendering of accounts. The Nation relies for its collective life on the federative constants [constantes federatrices], on the occurrence of moderate Muslim religion, [on] the national unity of its multiple components [affluents], [on] the constitutional monarchy and [on] democratic choice. The territorial organization of the Kingdom is decentralized. It is founded on an advanced regionalization. • Referenda Article 2 Sovereignty belongs to the Nation which exercises it directly, by way [voie] of referendum, and indirectly, by the intermediary of its representatives. The Nation chooses its representatives from among the institutions elected by way of free, honest [sinceres] and regular suffrage. • Freedom of religion Article 3 • Official religion Islam is the religion of the State, which guarantees to all the free exercise of beliefs [cultes]. • National flag Article 4 The emblem of the State is the red flag stamped in its center with a green star of five points [branches]. • God or other deities • National motto The motto of the Kingdom is Dieu, La Patrie, Le Roi [God, the Country, the King]. • Official or national languages Article 5 • Protection of language use Arabic is [demeure] the official language of the State. The State works for the protection and for the development of the Arabic language, as well as the promotion of its use. Likewise, Tamazight [Berber/amazighe] constitutes an official language of the State, being common patrimony of all Moroccans without exception. Morocco 2011 Page 4 constituteproject.org PDF generated: 26 Aug 2021, 16:39 • Integration of ethnic communities An organic law defines the process of implementation of the official character of this language, as well as the modalities of its integration into teaching and into the priority domains of public life, so that it may be permitted in time to fulfill its function as an official language. • Right to culture The State works for the preservation of Hassani, as an integral component of the Moroccan cultural unity, as well as the protection of the speakers [of it] and of the practical cultural expression of Morocco. Likewise, it sees to the coherence of linguistic policy and national culture and to the learning and mastery of the foreign languages of greatest use in the world, as tools of communication, of integration and of interaction [by which] society [may] know, and to be open to different cultures and to contemporary civilizations. A National Council of Languages and of Moroccan Culture [Conseil national des langues et de la culture marocaine] is created, charged with[,] notably[,] the protection and the development of the Arabic and Tamazight languages and of the diverse Moroccan cultural expressions, which constitute one authentic patrimony and one source of contemporary inspiration. It brings together the institutions concerned in these domains. An organic law determines its attributions, composition and the modalities of [its] functioning. Article 6 The law is the supreme expression of the will of the Nation. All, physical or moral persons, and including the public powers, are equal before it and held to submit themselves to it. • General guarantee of equality • Equality regardless of gender The public powers work for the creation of the conditions permitting the effectiveness of liberty and of the equality of citizens [feminine] and citizens